Larry W Ratliff

The Battle of San Jacinto and its Importance

US History II

Prof. Steve Haley

July 29, 2005


Timeline of Events

1619        Slaves are brought to the Jamestown Colonies

1776        “All men are created equal”

1803        Louisiana Purchase

1808        Congress abolishes the slave trade but not slavery

1820        Missouri compromise, in an attempt to maintaining balance, allows Maine to enter the union as a free state, while Missouri is allowed to enter as a slave state.

1821        Cinco de Mayo.  Mexico wins its independence from Spain and allows the settling of Tejas by Americans but disallows slavery

1830        In response to the great influx of Americans, Mexico passes anti-colonization laws.

1835        Mexican Presidente, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, presents a unified constitution for all of its territories, to include Tejas that abolishes slavery.

1836        In a whirlwind year the Texans declare their independence, ratify a constitution that allows slavery and win their freedom from Mexico.  They are massacred at the Alamo and at Goliad.  They win their freedom at San Jacinto and ask congress for annexation to the US or recognition as an independent republic.

1841        Santa Anna again resumes the Presidency of Mexico.

1843        Santa Anna declares an annexation of Texas by the US would be an act of war against Mexico.

1845        The US treats Texas as a “state” even though it is still viewed as a Mexican Territory under international laws.

1846         Mexican forces attack the Texans at Ft Texas, as they felt it was their territory

1848        Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war with Mexico.  The US gains 500,000 square miles with the states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and parts of Wyoming and Colorado.  For these the US pays 15 million dollars.  Texas is ceded to the US with its present day boundaries.

1850        James Pearce’s proposal in the compromise of 1850 is accepted.

1851        On Jan 1 the slave trade is abolished in the District of Columbia

1854        Kansas-Nebraska act effectively repeals the Missouri Compromise.

1861        Civil war erupts in the US


        

        I was wondering what to write about when a friend and I were discussing my great home state of Texas.  We were discussing why Texans are so cocky and proud of our state.  I went online to  to verify if Texas had the right to fly our flag the same height as the American Flag.  As it turns out, every state does.  There are guidelines for the proper etiquette of displaying the US Flag but no real rules.  This same set of guidelines also states that the flag should not be worn as jewelry, i.e. lapel pins, etc.  While I was there I ran across an article that said Texas was to be cut up into several stated upon annexation.  This I do not remember learning.  I guess my Texas History from 1985 just did not stick with me.  So when a Texan tells you that they can fly the flag at the same height as the American Flag just nod your head and say “You sure can.”  They will never know and it won’t kill their pride that way.  You can always remind them that the San Jacinto Monument is larger than the Washington Monument as it is the world’s largest memorial column.  But we’re not cocky.

        The Louisiana Purchase occurred in 1802 and effectively increased the current size of the US by 25%.  At less than 3 cents per acre it was a steal, so much so that the negotiators sent by President Thomas Jefferson were not authorized to spend that much.  Napoleon Bonaparte originally did not want to sell his New Orleans port to the great Mississippi.  He had plans for its use in expanding his territory in North America.  Being the strategist that he was, he saw it as an opportunity to befriend the Americans and rebuff Britain.  This also gave him more money for his war chest that probably enabled him to go and conquer most of Europe over the next 3-5 years.  

        This was a great deal in the long run as it gave the US the future states or part of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, northern Texas, most of Oklahoma, Kansas, and the parts of Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming that are east of the Rocky Mountains.  It also included the portions of southern Alberta, Manitoba, and southern Saskatchewan that drain into the Missouri river. (2)  The northern bankers and merchants as well as those on the eastern seaboard were worried about the increased influence of these new westerners and their political power being diminished.

Join now!

It was under these premises that a northern confederacy was proposed and then Vice President Aaron Burr was offered the presidency of the new confederacy if he could persuade New York to secede.  Alexander Hamilton was very vocal about his opposition to this plan and was able to stop the secession, but lost his life during a duel with Aaron Burr over the ordeal.  The seeds of dissention are growing though it is the north that is unhappy with their political standing.  Spain disputed the sale and the boundaries of the land.  The Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 finally settled the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay